GFW: From no television presence to taking over the whole Impact legacy

Global Force Wrestling has gone from a company that never existed on television to taking over the legacy of TNA and Impact Wrestling, and it’s all thanks to the genius of Jeff Jarrett.

The company was founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett and his wife Karen and despite not having any television deal anywhere in the world, 24 live events and even television tapings were held in hopes of selling a pilot show to a network.

In 2015, Jarrett made a surprise return to TNA and represented Global Force Wrestling in an angle that led to TNA vs GFW. In reality, it was Jarrett who sold his remaining TNA shares and in return he got several free advertising for his GFW brand which at that point still had no deal. After the angle wrapped up, Jarrett once again vanished from TNA television.

The move to get Jeff Jarrett back at Impact started immediately after Anthem took over the company from Dixie Carter. Ed Nordholm told The Tennessean that he met Jarrett in a private room at a Nashville restaurant Pinewood Social. “It started off as, ‘Will you talk to me and give me some perspective on the show?’ We had lunch, we chatted. We ended up with a good rapport.”

After Jarrett returned to Impact earlier this year, the two companies “merged” and its titles started being defended on Impact Wrestling. Title unifications are set for this Sunday at Slammiversary, including the GFW Global Championship in a match between Alberto Del Rio and Impact World champion Bobby Lashley.